


Sorry

by alafaye



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-13
Updated: 2012-12-13
Packaged: 2017-11-21 01:29:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/591902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alafaye/pseuds/alafaye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erik comes home. (Modern AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sorry

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2012 holiday challenge at the LJ community, adventchallenge. Prompt is "kiss". Also covers my free space on my cotton candy bingo.

Charles tapped his glass absentmindedly, staring into the fire. Moments ago, the clock on the mantle had chimed midnight. It was Christmas Eve and snow was falling gently outside. The house was quiet, of course, but quieter than it should have been. Charles had always sensed his loved ones when they were in the house, a gentle knowing that those dearest to him were close by. But tonight there was no one and the silence, the emptiness, was echoing as though the house was instead a cavern. Raven was flying in later with Hank and their little ones which would definitely brighten the halls.

He smiled, thinking of how their faces would light up with delight at the gifts he picked out for them. The bonus of being a telepath was that he could pick out of their minds exactly what gifts they would like. Most of the gifts were passed on to Raven and Hank to give to the children, but he kept a few for himself. The presents were all wrapped under the ten foot tree in the main room. The decorations were perfect and the ham was thawing in the fridge.

In fact, everything was perfect. Except for one thing.

Charles closed his eyes and took a sip of his scotch. Erik. It was Charles' fault, what happened. He had always been cautious with his powers, always careful to never go beyond social boundaries. The temptation was there, but when he had accidentally torn from Tommy Hidge's mind that his uncle abused him and told the adults which only made Tommy's life worse (in young Charles' mind), Charles had set an invisible line around his powers. He had never crossed them.

Until the beginning of December. Erik had been thinking of Chanukah and his parents. Charles had been a constant mental presence at the edge of Erik's mind since three months into their relationship, never intruding, just there. Erik had welcomed it so long as Charles respected the closed doors of Erik's mind. Charles always had. But then, Charles' had split two bottles of wine with Erik and they were having a carefree night out together and Erik's thoughts had wandered. He'd been thinking of the holidays and family--Charles' had explained his and Raven's traditions--and just then, Charles' had been laughing.

Erik had just looked at him and thought _I wish my parents could meet him_. Charles' was buzzed and affectionate and the holidays always made him wistful. He'd pulled the name of Erik's parents out of his mind and where they lived and blurted out, "So let's go to Washington to visit them!"

But their names and where they lived had been carefully hidden behind a door.

Erik had let go of Charles' hand and stopped dead in the street. His thoughts were in turmoil and latched onto exactly what happened. With a mental push that had Charles' physically stumbling, Erik snapped out, "You--you promised me, Charles! You swore to me that you would respect my doors and that you would never use your full powers just...just like that on anyone!"

Charles' swallowed hard and stepped toward Erik. "I'm sorry. I'm--please, Erik. I'm sorry. I don't, I shouldn't--"

"Exactly!" Erik yelled. "You shouldn't!" He shook his head and turned away from Charles to wave down a cab. The look he had shot Charles' was as cold as ice. When the cab drove away, Charles had fallen to his knees in the dirty street and wondered how he was going to fix this.

But there wasn't any way to fix it. Erik never answered Charles' calls and his mind was a wall to Charles' searching mind. Charles sniffed and tightened his free hand into a fist. He finished his scotch and set it aside. He had to stop thinking of that night or the sex that had been before it--the sex that had been burned into Charles' soul. He needed to think of what to tell Raven--he'd promised her that he would finally have a partner to introduce to her in November. She would want to know what he'd done to completely fuck up a relationship that good.

The doorbell rang.

He looked at the clock. Almost one. He reached out mentally to find out if he was about to be robbed, but instead of a disorganized mind, he only felt the answering caress of someone familiar. He ran to the front hall and opened the door. "Erik," he breathed. His thudding heart had nothing to do with the run and all to do with the man in front of him.

Erik half smiled. "Charles."

Charles waved him in. "Hi."

"Hi." Erik looked as good as he ever did, especially in his jeans and turtle neck. "I'm sorry for coming at a late hour, but I'm glad to see you were still awake."

Charles shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

Erik nodded, looking understanding. "Charles--I should apologize."

"No, no you don't," Charles insisted. "I knew better. I have never just blithely ignored boundaries the way I had that night. Even if you were so open, you had them behind a door and I know better."

"But that's it," Erik said. He raised his chin and licked his lips. "I shouldn't have had them behind a door." He took a deep breath. "My mother called me a few days later. She wanted to see me. My father...he passed away in October. She wasn't home when he threw me out; my father was the one who caught me with my boyfriend. I was long gone by the time my mother came home and found out. She couldn't find me. And then later, she wasn't sure if I would accept a call from her. But she told me that she wished she had known where I was because she would have helped me at least find somewhere to go.”

"Anyway, she said that with my father gone, she was hoping I would like to spend Chanukah with her. I thought about it and decided maybe it was time to let the past be. So I went and my mother and I caught up. It was nice."

There was something else. Something that Erik was hesitant to say, but Charles would spend an eternity in the hall waiting. Because Erik was here and his mind was open to Charles and _Erik was here._

"I told her about you." Erik flushed. "And what happened. Do you know what she said? She said that I shouldn't have kept something like that from you. You told me all about Raven and Hank and their kids. We've been dating for a year, now, and I certainly should have at least told you that there was a reason I didn't like talking about my parents. She agreed that I could be angry that you looked where you shouldn't have, but that I shouldn't have had something like that hidden."

Charles shrugged. "It's all right. I know sometimes people have good reasons. I wasn't actually curious, you know. You were just projecting."

Erik nodded. "Maybe I was. Doesn't matter though. Because while I was right, I was also wrong. I'm sorry, Charles. I shouldn't have just left like that. Coldly."

Charles reached out with a mental handshake and got what felt like a kiss in return. He smiled. "Apology accepted. If you'll take mine."

"Of course I will," Erik said. He stepped closer. "I've missed you."

"Me, too," Charles said. He looked outside where the snow continued to fall, but not heavily. Not enough to deter travelers. "Will you stay?"

Erik cleared his throat. "If you'll have me."

"Oh, Erik. Always."

Erik smiled and Charles pulled him in for a deep kiss. Erik's arms went around his back, keeping him there, and his mind pulled Charles in so deep, they were one person. Charles sighed and Erik's mind purred.


End file.
